Long Bright River

Long Bright River by Liz Moore follows two estranged sisters in Kensington, a Philadelphia neighborhood devastated by the opioid crisis: Mickey, a patrol cop and single mother, and Kacey, a heroin-addicted sex worker who lives on the streets. When a series of murders targeting women in Mickey’s district coincides with Kacey’s disappearance, Mickey becomes obsessed with finding both the killer and her sister, even as the investigation forces her to confront painful memories of their shared childhood and the systemic failures surrounding addiction and policing. The novel moves between past and present, blending slow-burn suspense with a character-driven exploration of family loyalty, trauma, and the pull of the place that shaped them.